Franklin Twp. man one of two charged in burglary

By ERIC POOLECalkins Media

Tuesday

Oct 25, 2011 at 12:01 AMOct 25, 2011 at 5:24 PM

ELLWOOD CITY -- Two men were charged Monday in a burglary that was solved before it was discovered.

Michael Ray Magill, 32, of 253 Eidenmiller Lane, Wayne Township, and Nathan Carder, 34, of 1056 Route 288, Franklin Township, were charged with burglary and other offenses in the break-in of two sheds on the property of Joseph McCandless, of 239 Fourth Street, Ellwood City.

In court documents filed Monday with District Judge Jerry Cartwright Jr., Ellwood City police said McCandless flagged down Patrolman Jason Gostkowski around 12:45 p.m. Oct. 10 as he drove near McCandless' home.

McCandless told Gostkowski that two sheds, used to house antique metal objects, had been broken into and around 100 antique metal railings and several antique metal signs stolen. The railings had once been in the old Hotel Oliver, which was demolished nearly 90 years ago to make way for Lincoln High School.

Police said the burglars cut through a padlock on one building and removed bricks from the basement level of the other building to gain access for the thefts. The estimated value of the railings was $400 each, and the signs, which were stored in McCandless' shed by McElwain Motors, were valued at $1,000 each, which pushed the total value of the stolen items over $60,000.

Coincidentally, two days earlier, around 10:14 a.m. on Oct. 8, a Lawrence Avenue business owner had called police to report seeing two men taking antique metal retail signs out of an overgrown area along the dead-end block of Third Street near McCandless' sheds.

The business owner and an employee were able to identify Magill and recognized Carder, whom they knew only by his first name. And, if that weren't helpful enough, the business owner had also logged a license plate number for the van Magill and Carder were throwing the antique signs into.

Magill and Carder couldn't catch even the most elementary break -- Gostkowski was the responding officer to the eyewitness report. Armed with a name for the van's owner, who was not charged, Gostkowski found that Magill and Carder had sold the signs to Weller's Flea Market, 130 Wampum Ave., Ellwood City, for $400. The signs were recovered.